Analysis

A review of Medicare data suggests that a relatively modest increase in drug costs ($10) can lead to a 33% increase in mortality.

Retirement experts David Blanchett and Michael Finke weigh in on the study comparing automatic 401(k) drawdowns to annuities.

According to the findings, ‌premiums‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌individual‌ ‌market‌ ‌dropped‌ ‌more‌ in‌ ‌states‌ ‌that‌ ‌fully‌ ‌expanded‌ ‌short-term‌ ‌insurance‌ than those that did not.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 did not continue much retirement-related relief into the new year.

Across the federal bureaucracy, there is an expectation that Biden's regulatory and enforcement agencies will take a more broadly focused consumer protection lane.

Reasons given range from needing more retirement savings to lack of traditional retirement activities due to pandemic.

While the short-term consequences to retirement savers are likely to be minimal, long-term impacts could surface.

"Anything that negatively affects workforce participation — and productivity of workers — has a huge effect on our global competitiveness," said Robert Kaplan, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.